Eastern Ghouta: Syrian army splits enclave in three, reports say

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionDouma continues to be under government bombardment

The Syrian army has made a significant advance in its effort to take rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, reports say.

Troops have cut off the region's biggest town, Douma, and isolated another, according to UK-based conflict monitors the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The advance would effectively split the region into three parts.

The Syrian government began a major offensive last month to re-take Eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus.

Since then they have reportedly taken control of half of the region, in an advance that has left around 1,000 civilians dead over the past three weeks, according to SOHR.

The UN has called the bombardment "unacceptable", saying it amounts to "the collective punishment of civilians".

The military has been accused of targeting civilians, but it says it is trying to liberate the region - one of the last rebel strongholds - from those it terms terrorists.

What's happening on the ground?

A clear strategy of the Syrian government's offensive in Eastern Ghouta has been to divide the enclave into isolated sections and so cut off rebel support and supply networks, the BBC's Arab Affairs editor Sebastian Usher says - and now the government appears to have all but achieved that goal.

The Syrian government has reportedly captured the central town of Misraba, and advanced onwards into surrounding farmland.

Misraba is located along a major road that links Douma, in the north, with another big town, Harasta, in the west.

If confirmed, the advance leaves the enclave divided into three - Douma and its surrounding towns in the north, western Harasta, and the rest of the territory in the south.

Syrian state television also said the army had splinted Eastern Ghouta, but a spokesman for one of the main rebel groups told Reuters neither Harasta nor Douma were cut off.

Meanwhile an opposition website said that a group of fighters from the jihadists Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) arrived in central Hama province from Eastern Ghouta, a day after an evacuation deal was reached.

On Friday a UN convoy was able to successfully deliver aid to Eastern Ghouta, after previous deliveries were halted by shelling.

Some 400,000 people are still thought to live in the area, seven years into Syria's civil war. It has been besieged by government forces since 2013.

Who are the rebels?

The rebels in Eastern Ghouta are not one cohesive group. They encompass multiple factions, including jihadists, and in-fighting between them has led to past losses of ground to the Syrian government.

The two largest groups are Jaish al-Islam and its rival Faylaq al-Rahman. The latter has in the past fought alongside HTS.

Media captionA short guide to the Syrian civil war

Eastern Ghouta is so close to Damascus that it is possible for rebels to fire mortars into the heart of the capital, which has led to scores of civilian deaths.

The Syrian government is desperate to regain the territory, and has said its attempts to recapture it can be attributed directly due to the HTS presence there. HTS was excluded from a ceasefire agreed at the UN that has yet to come into effect.

The group is an alliance of factions led by the Nusra Front, which sprang from al-Qaeda.

Image copyrightAFP/SANA

Image captionSyrian state media showed what it described as rebel fighters being evacuated from Eastern Ghouta

What else is happening in Syria?

In January, Turkey began an offensive to oust the Kurdish YPG militia from the Afrin region in northern Syria, near the Turkish border.

Turkish troops, and some allied Syrian rebel militias, are now on the outskirts of Afrin town, the SOHR says.

Both the SOHR and an embedded news agency reporter said that Turkish forces had captured a military base from Kurdish groups and were seen taking heavy machine guns out, while exchanging fire with Kurdish fighters.

Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group and says it is linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has fought an insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades.

Kurdish media report that Turkish forces have blown up public water facilities, cutting off drinking water supplies to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his troops could enter the town "at any moment". He said they would "purge" the town and then carry on further east.

Florida shooting: NRA sues as Florida enacts gun-control law

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The National Rifle Association has sued Florida after it passed a gun control law in the wake of a school shooting last month that left 17 people dead.

Governor Rick Scott, a Republican and staunch ally of the gun lobby, enacted the bill.

The law raises the legal age for buying rifles in Florida, but also allows the training and arming of school staff.

It does not ban semi-automatic rifles like the one used in the 14 February massacre in Parkland.

But it does introduce a three-day waiting period on all gun sales and a ban on bump stocks, a device that enables semi-automatic rifles to fire hundreds of rounds a minute.

The NRA filed its lawsuit on Friday just an hour after the bill was signed by the governor.

The complaint says the law violates the second amendment of the US constitution, which governs the right to bear arms.

It also argues the bill breaches the 14th amendment's equal protection clause by banning law-abiding citizens between 18-21 from buying guns.

Media captionAmerica's gun laws explained

The legal action says the Florida legislation particularly affects young women.

"Females between the ages of 18 and 21 pose a relatively slight risk of perpetrating a school shooting... or, for that matter, a violent crime of any kind," says the lawsuit.

The bill's passage by a Republican-controlled legislature in a state where the NRA wields considerable influence is seen as a testament to an impassioned pro-gun control campaign launched by young survivors of the shooting and parents of the victims.

Governor Scott signed the bill surrounded by Parkland students and families.

"Today should serve as an example to the entire country that government can and must move fast," he said.

Media captionStudents have been lobbying for greater gun control

A former student with a history of mental health issues is accused of killing 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February in the second-deadliest US school shooting ever.

The Florida bill is also controversial because it allows school staff to be specially trained to carry guns as campus "guardians".

However, local sheriffs and individual school districts may opt out and most classroom teachers will be excluded from the scheme.

Six other states - Wyoming, South Dakota, Tennessee, Georgia, Kansas and Texas - allow public school employees to carry firearms to work, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

President Donald Trump has voiced support for arming teachers and so has the NRA.

The Florida bill also included a provision to make it easier for police to confiscate weapons from anyone found to pose a threat of violent behaviour.

This so-called "red flag" measure has also been proposed by five other states - Rhode Island, Utah, Kentucky, Alabama and Pennsylvania - since last month's Parkland attack, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Syria war: Jaish al-Islam to evacuate number of Eastern Ghouta fighters

Media captionA short guide to the Syrian civil war

Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam has agreed to evacuate jihadist fighters being held in its prisons in besieged Eastern Ghouta, a statement says.

The group says the decision was made in consultation with a delegation that entered with a UN aid convoy.

The Syrian government has stepped up efforts in retake the rebel-held enclave in recent weeks, leading to more than 900 reported civilian deaths.

Pro-government forces have now reportedly taken half the area.

Some 400,000 people are trapped and efforts to reach a deal to halt the bloodshed have gone on for weeks.

Jaish al-Islam said it had come to an agreement with a variety of parties, including the UN, to evacuate the fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - an alliance of factions led by the Nusra Front, which sprung from al-Qaeda.

The extreme jihadist militants are excluded from the yet-to-be-implemented UN ceasefire and their presence provided a justification for the government bombardment of the area.

They are expected to travel to Idlib, which has been the destination for fighters under previous agreements - most notably when the Syrian government retook Eastern Aleppo.

However correspondents say the Russian-backed offensive is likely to continue despite the fighters' removal.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThe first 13 were said to have been transported out using the Syrian government designated al-Wafidden corridor

Who are the rebel groups?

The rebels in Eastern Ghouta are not one cohesive group. They encompass multiple factions, including jihadists, and in-fighting between them has led to past losses of ground to the Syrian government.

The two largest groups are Jaish al-Islam and its rival Faylaq al-Rahman. The latter has in the past fought alongside HTS.

Eastern Ghouta is so close to Damascus that it is possible for rebels to fire mortars into the heart of the capital, which has led to scores of civilian deaths.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionInternational aid has been trying to get into the area in recent days

The Syrian government is desperate to regain the territory, and has said its attempts to recapture the Eastern Ghouta are directly due to the HTS presence there. HTS was excluded from a ceasefire agreed at the UN that has yet to come into effect.

What is the situation in Eastern Ghouta?

The enclave has been beyond government control since 2012, but in recent weeks its efforts to retake the territory have markedly intensified.

Forces loyal to the Syrian government have now reportedly taken back half of the area.

Media captionFootage shows an earlier aid convoy reaching "hell on earth"

An estimated 950 civilians have been killed in the Eastern Ghouta region since the Russian-backed government assault was launched on 18 February, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group, which has a network of sources on the ground. Many of the victims are children.

On Friday a UN convoy was able to successfully deliver aid to the area, after previous deliveries were halted by shelling.

Hundreds of thousands of residents are still thought to live in the Eastern Ghouta, seven years into the civil war.

Turkish push against Syrian Kurds 'imminent'

Further north in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the Turkish army and its Free Syrian Army allies could enter the town of Afrin "at any moment" and are surrounding its centre.

Their forces have been pressing an assault against the Kurdish-held enclave since January 20. They have already taken control of the nearby town of Jinderes, a few kilometres from Afrin, Turkish reports say. Kurdish fighters insist the Turkish military has not yet besieged Afrin.

Rights group Amnesty International says that scores of civilians have been killed in the area by indiscriminate shellfire since the assault began.

Media captionAfrin: What is going on in Syria's other battle?

The Turkish government has entered the area because it says the Kurdish militia holding the territory - the People's Protection Units (YPG) - are an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.

The YPG denies any direct organisational links to the PKK - an assertion backed by the US, which has provided the militia and allied Arab fighters with weapons and air support to help them battle the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).

'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli sentenced to seven years

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Martin Shkreli, the former drug firm executive found guilty of defrauding investors, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

The 34-year-old wept at a hearing as a federal court judge in Brooklyn, New York, handed down the prison term.

Shkreli was convicted last year of sending fake account statements to investors while concealing huge losses from two hedge funds he ran.

He first became notorious in 2015 for hiking the price of a lifesaving drug.

His lawyers had asked the judge to impose a sentence of 12 to 18 months, while prosecutors were seeking at least 15 years.

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionAttorney Benjamin Brafman arrives for a hearing for his client, former drug company executive Martin Shkreli,

"I've got my begging voice on," Shkreli's lawyer Benjamin Brafman told the judge on Friday, while acknowledging his client could be annoying.

"There are times when I want to hug him and hold him and comfort him and there are times when I want to punch him in the face," said Mr Brafman.

An uncharacteristically apologetic Shkreli said in court: "There is no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli.

"I took down Martin Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions."

In 2015 the youthful executive made headlines after he founded Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim and raised its price by 5,000% to $750 (£540) per pill.

The medication is used to treat Aids patients, the pregnant and elderly. Price gouging is not illegal or even unusual in the US pharmaceutical industry.

But Shkreli became a poster boy for corporate excess, and was dubbed "Pharma Bro" and the "most hated man in America".

In December 2015, he was charged with securities fraud charges and looting millions of dollars from two hedge funds he operated, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare.

He was convicted of those charges, as well as scheming to prop up the stock price of Retrophin, the drug company he founded in 2011.

Before his sentencing, Mr Brafman told the judge that Shkreli is a "somewhat broken" person who suffered from depression and an anxiety disorder.

Mr Brafman said the US government would like to just "throw away" his client.

During the trial last year, Shkreli called the prosecution "junior varsity" in off-the-cuff remarks to reporters covering his trial.

Prosecutors sought a gag order on him after that outburst, but the judge denied their application.

After a jury found him guilty in August last year, Shkreli was allowed to remain free pending sentencing.

But a month later he offered social media followers $5,000 if they could bring him hair from former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who repeatedly criticised him during her campaign.

A judge revoked bail and Shkreli was jailed.

Prosecutors moved to seize $7.4m of his assets, including a single copy of an album by American hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan that the disgraced executive is said to have paid $2m for at auction in 2015.